The Electoral Court dismissed an application by the uMkhonto WeSizwe (MK) Party on Friday. The ruling rejects a legal challenge that sought to set aside the results of South Africa’s 2024 national and provincial elections.
Electoral Court Dismisses MK Party Challenge
Former president Jacob Zuma’s party alleged that the integrity of the vote count was compromised during a two-hour blackout of the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) results dashboard on May 31, 2024.
Flawed Evidence and Unsound Reasoning
The Electoral Court ruled that the MK Party’s reasoning and evidence regarding alleged vote-capturing interference were unsound.
According to the court’s judgment, the party’s insistence that something untoward occurred on the results leaderboard was flawed.
Audit Trail Confirms System Integrity
The court accepted audit trail evidence demonstrating that election results continued to be captured and edited during the two-hour window when the public-facing dashboard displayed zero results. Independent auditors verifying the process confirmed that the technical glitch did not impact the final vote tally or verification procedures.
The court stated that the IEC’s version of events, backed by proven and undisputed facts, was preferable to the MK Party’s case, which relied on inferences from an unsound expert report. The judges noted that there was no evidence proving the IEC’s results system lacked integrity.
Bypassing Mandatory Legal Procedures
Beyond the technical merits of the case, the Electoral Court found that the MK Party failed to comply with mandatory procedures outlined in section 55 of the Electoral Act.
The bench noted that the party framed its challenge as a direct review of the commission’s declaration of results to bypass standard objection timelines and protocols. Consequently, the court ruled that the application to review the election outcome was not competent in law.
IEC Prepares for 2026 Municipal Elections
The IEC welcomed the ruling, emphasizing its statutory duty to protect the credibility, fairness, and integrity of electoral outcomes. The commission noted that the legal challenge directly targeted the reliability of its digital capture and reporting systems.
Following the court’s judgment, the IEC confirmed it will finalize an independent, external audit of the results system ahead of upcoming municipal elections scheduled for November 4, 2026.
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